Probe questions about no-parking zone in New Orleans: An editorial

New Orleans residents who were forced to move their cars on Mardi Gras when "no parking'' signs were posted at St. Charles Avenue and First Street suspect that someone was conspiring to snag good parking places. The Public Works employee who posted the signs told them the road was being closed at the request of police.

But when paradegoers laden with grills and other equipment came, parking in what was supposed to be a no-parking zone, they faced no consequences for doing so.

Landrieu administration spokesman Ryan Berni said that the employee misinterpreted a work order from the New Orleans Police Department. The city meant to close off a section of First Street between Prytania Street and St. Charles for use by a Rex convoy. Instead, he said, the worker erroneously put up the signs on the first block of First Street going toward the lake.

But that explanation doesn't answer all the questions raised by the incident. Residents said that the same thing happened last year, but then a worker told them it was for a film crew. No one ever showed up to film, but paradegoers did.

It's hard to imagine a mistake happening in the same area twice in a row. The lack of enforcement of the no-parking zone is also suspicious.

The discrepancies warrant a closer look. If there was a scam to free up premium parking, the city needs to get to the bottom of it.